Melania Paduraru's Blog on Teaching English

1. Mind the gap

The fastest means of transport in London is the underground. It is very well organised and easy to understand, but what else would you have expected? It’s the oldest underground in the world and the largest in Europe and… it’s British. Do you need to get somewhere and don’t know how to get there? Plan your journey on the Transport for London site. Besides providing you with accurate variants of travel based on your choices and showing you the whole journey on a map, the site also gives the latest information on delays or diversions, thus helping you make the best decision on how to get to your destination in time. To avoid being late or getting lost, I always take notes about how to get there (and get back home…) and always check the map, just to make an idea of the itinerary.

If you decide to take the underground, checking the map is really helpful. It shows you all your journey, where you need to change lines but, most important, makes it easier for you to find the correct platform for the direction you’re going. What does this mean? Well, imagine you get to the underground station, pay for your journey, take the escalator down towards your line and platform and… you’re suddenly lost: you’re on Victoria line, but where are you going, northbound or southbound? If you find yourself in this situation, you’ve just learned that checking the map becomes vital.

Once you’re on your train, a digital display and a lovely voice give you information on the line and direction you’re travelling, the next stop, where to change for other lines or the National Rail Service. But, while most information differs from line to line and direction to direction, there is one recurrent message all over the underground system in London: